A PR crisis can unravel at the drop of a hat. Without proper planning it’s likely to suck up resources and wreak havoc on a brand, leaving marketing and communications pros to mitigate the damage. Here are three strategies straight from the BAM team on how to lessen the severity of a crisis and prepare before it even happens:

Plan ahead, stay ahead: The most successful method for navigating through a crisis is to plan for it before it happens. Take time to reflect and research your market, identifying what crisis may become a factor in the future. By constructing a plan in advance with the help of a professional or an agency experienced in managing crises, you allow yourself more time to research and reflect on the situation and properly form responses based on the severity. Then, if a crisis occurs, all you need to do is turn to the appropriately scaled response via your plan.

Navigate fast: Now it’s time to turn to and implement your plan. In the moment, even with plan in-hand, it can be tempting to jump to solutions when it seems like the sky is falling. Your company’s response should match the scale of the crisis, and a dedicated spokesperson responsible for distributing information will help your organization control the message and keep “the main thing” truly the main thing.

Look and listen: The only way to prepare for a crisis or reduce the chance of one occurring is to understand types of crises your organization may face. From a social media perspective, when a crisis hits, you’ll need to pause daily posts and swiftly update the public with a post via the company homepage and all platforms. Ensure communication channel usernames and passwords are accessible so PR representatives can access them urgently.